ARMENIA: CIVILIZATIONAL VECTOR IN THE HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SILK ROAD

For millennia Armenia has been connected with the nearby and remote countries by trade routes, which with time formed the system of the highways of the Silk Road, from China to India – Bactria – Tokharistan – Sogdiana – Iran – Armenia – Mesopotamia – Asia Minor, the countries and cities of the Mediterranean Sea’s eastern basin (Egypt, Phoenicia, Syria, Cilicia, etc.) and Europe (Greece, Rome, etc.)

Civilizational contribution of Armenia to the history of the Silk Road in ancient and medieval times (in different geopolitical conditions) was determined by economic, state legal and cultural factors, the conclusion of international trade agreements, the high level of architecture, urban planning and craft production, developed network of trade routes, the export of raw materials and products, import of goods in the domestic market, as well as their transit to other countries, keeping and preservation of trade routes, active participation in international maritime trade and the development of commercial and financial capital, etc. In international projects devoted to the Silk Road it is necessary to present the historical and cultural heritage of Armenia in its territorial entity: Eastern Armenia – Republic of Armenia, the Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) Republic, Nothern Artsakh, Utik (Gardman, Gandzak, etc.), Javakhk (and neighboring regions), Nakhijevan and Paytakaran, as well as Western Armenia, including Armenia Minor, Mesopotamia and Cilician Armenia. A truly scientific approach to the history of the Silk Road in line with the dialogue of civilizations can become one of the guarantors of the security of the world civilization with its spiritual and cultural roots in Armenia